A spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday after a meeting between Russian Ambassador in Dakar Valery Nesterushkin and Senegalese Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye: “The Russian ambassador urged the Senegalese authorities to release the Russian fishing vessel Oleg Naidenov and its crew,” the spokesman said. “It was stressed that norms of international law must be observed in respect of the Russian citizens. The Russian diplomat urged to take measure to ensure uninterrupted supplies of electricity, food and drinking water to the Russian ship and offer qualified medical assistance.”

Senegalese Minister of Fishing and Maritime Affairs Haidar El-Ali also took part in the meeting.

“Ndiaye, in turn, said that the Oleg Naidenov has been detained because of recurring violations of the rules of fishing in the Senegalese exclusive economic zone and promised to refer relevant official materials to the Russian embassy in Dakar,” the spokesman noted. “At the same time, the minister said the Senegalese side was taking all necessary steps to promptly settle the situation.”

“The two diplomats expressed confidence that the conflict around the detention of the Russian Oleg Naidenov trawler and its crew would be settled very soon in the spirit of the traditionally friendly Russian-Senegalese relations,” the spokesman stressed. According to the spokesman, Russian diplomats jointly with representatives from the Russian fisheries agency in Dakar continued efforts to ensure the observance of legal rights and interests of our fellow countrymen - members of the Oleg Naidenov crew.

Seizure of Oleg Naidenov trawler

The Oleg Naidenov suspected of illegal fishing within Senegalese waters was seized by the Senegalese military 46 miles off Guinea-Bissau on January 4 with 82 crew onboard, including 62 Russians and 20 citizens of Guinea-Bissau, and convoyed to the port of Dakar on January 5. During the seizure several sailors were injured.

The Oleg Naidenov is owned by private company Fenix, registered in Murmansk, the extreme northwest part of Russia. It is a big fishing boat of Moonzund type, 120 meters long, built in Germany in 1989.

The crew remains on board the vessel under control of the Senegalese law enforcers. Sailors’ passports were confiscated soon after the arrest and the crew was not allowed to leave the trawler.

Supplies of drinking water began to the Russian Oleg Naidenov fishing trawler on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, the ship owner company, Fenix, said that the crew of a French ship had offered their assistance in delivering drinking water to the Oleg Naidenov.

The owner of the Russian Oleg Naidenov fishing trawler plans to file a suit with the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

“On our part, we think that it would be expedient to file a suit with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg,” he said. Earlier, this court promptly considered the case of the Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise ship that had been arrested in Russia’s Murmansk. “As a rule, this tribunal rules to release the ship and the crew,” he added.